Attempting to conceal the surging panic racing throughout my body, I googled “500 word cut off.” I had submitted a few applications in early November not knowing that college admissions had become stricter about the 500- word limit. I learned later in the day that one could still get away with 620 words, although I would swear that my standing heart rate has been forever altered.

Five hundred words, approximately 3,000 characters, is the only opportunity to use a personal narrative on the Common App. Amidst one’s letter grades, standardized test scores, extra curricula’s, and recommendations this is the only way to communicate to college admissions directly in the application. Given that larger schools do not offer interviews, and some do not require supplements, the essay is, in these cases, the only opportunity to have a voice of one’s own.

I wonder how much could be communicated in 500 words. What could possibly be gleaned about a life? While we may not be able to identify one another through our chosen topics, character can emerge in 3,000 characters. Having talked with a few Y2’s about their essays, I learned that the process and the product are evidence of each person’s unique self. “I knew exactly what I was going to write about, wrote it in March, everything but the conclusion…” said one Y2 who most would consider intense and passionate, yet steadfast and reliable. This is a BHSEC student who many would have expected to have completed the essay well in advance. A few other Y2’s, did not know in advance what to write about. One in particular, creative and artistic beyond her years said “I wrote it the day before Simon’s Rock. Never changed it.” I had the impression that for this student, ideas were always brewing, making the one day essay a possibility although it is not recommended.

For others, the narrative process was evolutionary as well as self- revelatory. Said most succinctly by a Y2, considered to be an introspective and powerful writer “I realized the truth about myself and my situation while writing my essay, and that changed the course of the essay.” Another Y2 described starting out with a completely different topic in mind than the one she ultimately submitted. This student talked about evaluating her life globally, writing a personal statement and eventually “honing in on one paragraph from the essay and elaborating on it.”
From these interviews, I learned that BHSEC students, at least by the time we reach our second year in the college program, have developed our own ways of composing an essay. Colleges see the final, finished product. They do not witness each individual’s creative process. By far, the person who witnessed much of the essay composition, and offered the most direction, was Ms. Randall at the Writing Center. She deserves substantial acknowledgment for the emergence and creation of many characters.